The invention is directed to a fabric having the hand characteristics of a pure finished product while having the wrinkle-resisting characteristics of a resin-treated product, and a method of making such fabrics. More specifically, the invention is directed to cellulosic fiber containing fabrics having desirable hand characteristics, strength and color in combination with good wrinkle-resisting characteristics.
In the production of textile fabrics, it is common for manufacturers to have to sacrifice certain product characteristics in order to achieve others. In other words, methods used to enhance one product characteristic often have a corresponding deleterious effect on another characteristic. Therefore, the end product often represents a compromise designed to provide the overall best balance of product characteristics.
In the case of fabrics designed to be used in the manufacture of apparel products, the achievement of a desirable balance of fabric properties can be extremely difficult, since many of the aesthetic characteristics are subjective and there are certain characteristics that must be maintained at particular levels to insure that a consumer will purchase the apparel. For example, flexibility, hand, color, and the like can be as important to the consumer as performance attributes such as strength and durability.
One area where this issue is particularly evident is in the manufacture of bottom-weight fabrics (i.e. those for use in the manufacture of pants.) Many conventional bottom-weight fabrics are made primarily or substantially entirely from cotton. While 100% cotton products are often favored from a “feel” and comfort standpoint, all-cotton products can have some disadvantages. For one, 100% cotton products are typically ring-dyed, and therefore often lose their color after only a minimal number of launderings and/or wearings. This is particularly notable along folded regions of the fabric. Second, the all-cotton fabrics tend to wrinkle undesirably, typically rendering ironing a necessity. In addition, the all-cotton fabrics do not tend to hold desirable creases, such as the crease often provided along the front of the legs on a pair of pants. Furthermore, the cotton fabrics can tend to lose a lot of strength following launderings and wearings.
To overcome the perceived disadvantage of cotton fabric wrinkling, durable (permanent) press finishes were introduced. Such finishes dramatically improve the wrinkle recovery of cotton fabrics, but these finishes can tend to make the fabric hand “harsh”, and degrade the strength of the cotton fibers. To overcome some of the disadvantages of the durable-press all-cotton fabrics, some manufacturers blend the cotton fibers with stronger synthetic fibers such as polyester. While this tends to improve many of the performance characteristics, such as strength and color retention, the inclusion of the polyester can tend to decrease what is known as the desirable “cottony hand.” In addition, because the polyester is hydrophobic, the fabrics often require the application of additional chemistry in order to achieve adequate moisture absorption characteristics.
There are several primary ways that cotton-containing bottom-weight fabrics are currently provided in the market. The first is in what is known as a “pure finished” form, which means that the fabric has not been treated with a durable press resin-type treatment. Such fabrics have often been treated with a little softener, but offer essentially no wrinkle resistance or other performance characteristics.
The second form in which fabrics are currently produced is with a durable-press resin treatment. These fabrics are then typically provided to garment manufacturers in one of two forms. In the first, the resin is padded or otherwise applied to the fabric, and the resin is cured while the fabric is in its flat or open width state as part of the fabric finishing operation. These fabrics are known in the marketplace as “precured” fabrics. In the second form, the durable press resin treatment is at least somewhat unpolymerized when the fabric is provided to the garment manufacturer. (This can be performed by applying the resin treatment when the fabric is still in fabric form or after it has been formed into a garment.) Following construction of a garment from the fabric (and application of the resin treatment, if not previously applied), the fabric in the garment is finally cured, such as by wet fixation in a high-temperature wet bath, by a vapor-phase (steam) process, or by gamma radiation or low energy beta radiation treatments. These fabrics are typically referred to as “postcure” or delayed cure fabrics.
Typically, in the case of both precure and postcure fabrics, the garment manufacturer takes the garments and washes them a number of times, in order to reduce the harshness of hand that resulted from the resin treatment. Not only does this add significant expense to the manufacturing process, but the fabrics lose color and strength as a result.
Therefore, a need exists for a method for achieving wrinkle-resistant cellulosic fiber-containing fabrics which have the aesthetic characteristics of pure finished goods, with good color and strength.